Finale: Back aboard the Gambit with Tschau, Vaarvel, and Dr. Goldstein

{if Serpentine Sportsman Lived = 1}You blinked your eyes in a daze, finding yourself in a dark room, lit only by a low, red light from overhead. For a moment, you were worried you'd been captured by Adder somewhere in the confusion of the auction... but as you identified the other figures in the room, you managed to get your bearings. Your two agents had managed to get you back onto the plane, somehow. {if Tschau's Legs = 1}In hindsight, it seems obvious: those metal legs of Tschau probably allowed her to support your weight, despite her small size. Those things really had all kinds of advantages...{endif}

Looking around, you first spotted the grinning face of Vaarvel, shamelessly watching you as you blinked yourself awake. Next, to your right: Tschau. The albino turned her pink eyes away from yours standoffishly as soon as she caught you looking. You opened your mouth to speak, then felt the presence of a third; you turned your head right, then spotted the eerie, grinning, fanged face of Dr. Nora Goldstein. You panicked for a moment, then reminded yourself that she was actually a CEDIT agent embedded in Adder... But she didn't have to look the part so thoroughly, did she?

"Probably not how you were planning to end your night at the auction..." Vaarvel opened the conversation with a light joke at your expense, which the other girls took better than you did... They weren't the ones who'd been conked on the head. {endif}{if Serpentine Sportsman Killed = 1}The escape had been fraught with its own dangers, but after weaving past Adder operatives, you and Vaarvel managed to escape to the safety of the cloaked Gambit stationed at the extraction zone. Tschau joined you with a mighty leap from the rooftops in through the waiting door of the ship, demonstrating again her skills as a ninja{if Tschau's Legs = 1} with cybernetically enhanced legs{endif}. To your surprise, another guest was already waiting inside the ship: Dr. Nora Goldstein, A.K.A. Scylla Schulz, still dressed in her Adder scientist finest. You hoped that wherever we were going knew not to detain her on sight...{endif}

With the mission over, one issue still hung over your heads... the issue of Bound Blood 1000. You knew that the issue didn't end with the auction or even Serpentine Sportsman... the drug surely existed even outside of the auction house. You couldn't help but ask what your allies thought was going to happen next.

The fanged woman at your side grinned broadly, then adjusted her spectacles. "It's not as much of a worry as you might think... you have one of Adder's foremost genetic scientists on board with you now. If anyone's equipped to re-engineer the antidote, it's me. You'll have it in time for your next brush up with Adder! Just try not to listen to direct message from any Adder bigwigs in the mean time, okay?" The woman's words were comforting, but her smile was so creepy, it was hard to be reassured.

"The mission didn't go quite as planned... but you were as cool under pressure as we could have hoped, Ciao. You may have a bright future as our handler after all. Well, as bright as anyone's life can be when in the midst of international terrorists all the time. I still find my pleasures here and there." Vaarvel's laughter was both friendly and flirtatious, though it was hard to ever take her words at face value, even when they seemed to be objective praise.

"... Don't think I trust you yet... But I suppose things could have gone worse if you'd hesitated. In the end, you made the right decision. I have a code of justice, Ciao... and your actions were in line with that. Don't oppose my code of justice and we can continue to work well together." The ninja nodded a few more times, seeming slightly embarrassed to offer you any praise... but it was possible that her same code of justice that brought judgment on bad guys instructed her to issue praise when it was warranted. {if Serpentine Sportsman Killed}"Not to mention... it was pretty satisfying to see that snake bastard get what he deserved, in the end." You had to agree, on that point. {endif}

The rest of the Gambit ride was spent mostly on rest... it had been an eventful few hours and the sun was just coming up outside of the plane.